The latest weather data confirms what Chicagoans already know: It has been a seriously dreary month, without much sun or even snow.
In fact, this month has had 17 days with no sunshine at all-which beats the previous December record of 16 gray days.
There have been just 2,375 minutes of sunshine in Chicago this month, according to Frank Wachowski, a retired meteorologist who measures area sunshine for the National Weather Service.
"We should have 15,374, so we're way below [average]," Wachowski said.
To translate: This December has seen only about 40 hours of sunshine total, and the average December has 256.
And this month could approach another record. A Chicago December hasn't had so little snow since 1912, said WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling. So far this month, we've seen only a few flakes.
"Only 10 Decembers since 1884 produced less than one inch of snowfall," said Wachowski, who called this month "unbelievable."
There was speculation last week that December could beat the month's record for the smallest percentage of possible sunshine-a measure used to determine how much the sun actually shone during daylight hours.
In December 1975, Chicago saw just 19 percent of its possible sunshine. As of Dec. 22, the possible sunshine this month was at just 16 percent-but a string of sunnier days have bumped that number up to about 23 percent, said Skilling.
"It's looking less and less likely that we'll set a record for the least sun," he said.
Next month, look for temperatures to drop quite a bit-and according to Wachowski, there likely won't be much snow in early January, either.
"I'm hoping it stays this way, because I really don't care for snow," he said.
Want more? Discuss this article and others on RedEye's Facebook page.